Tuesday, January 15, 2019

Stocks Rise Despite Spate Of Bad News, Brexit No-Go Vote

Some are wondering whether the market is being run by computers or human operatives, or, worse yet, humans running computers front-running the market.

What may be happening is that humans are programming computer algorithms to react to fake news and the PPT is backstopping each and every tick lower by buying futures, resulting in the altos readjusting to buy more.

There was a good deal of bad news flow in the morning... and then just after 7:00 pm London time (2:00 pm ET), there was the Brexit vote.

Here's what passed across the wires prior to the opening bell and shortly thereafter:


  • Both Wells Fargo (WFC) and JP Morgan Chase (JPM) missed on both earnings per share and revenue.
  • Netflix (NFLX) announced the largest price increase in its 12-year history.
  • China's economy grew by 6.4%, the slowest rate in over a decade.
  • PPI cane in at -0.2%, a deflationary reading.
  • Delta Airlines (DAL) beat, but warned that the partial government shutdown would negatively impact earnings in the current quarter.
  • The Empire State Manufacturing Survey fell to a reading of 3.9 in January from an upwardly revised reading of 11.5 in December.
  • Goodyear Tire (GT) lowered its fourth quarter outlook and full year (2018) guidance.

With all this in the cooker, stocks opened higher and took off from there. The Dow exploded to a gain of 190 points just before noon. The NASDAQ was up nearly 120 points.

After noon, the markets went into a wait-and-see mood as the Brexit vote approached. In what has to be the most convoluted, time-wasting exercise in government over-reach (possibly challenged by the partial shutdown in the US), Britain has been wrangling over just how to depart from the European Union after a referendum passed nearly two-and-a-half years ago (June 23, 2016).

With different constituents vying for complete Brexit, partial Brexit with a backstop, no Brexit, and other variants, the argument over how to implement what was voted upon by the constituency has been nothing short of a disaster and an indictment against the effectiveness of government everywhere.

Somebody should point out - we will - that with all the Brexit juggling, partial US shutdown jousting, and continuing French protesting, governments in developed nations are proving to be at least cracked, if not nearly completely broken. Besides the fact that none of them can manage to spend less than what they receive through their extreme, excessive, heavy-handed taxation - which is over the top - it seems all they're capable of doing at the highest levels is fight for positioning and power, all to the detriment of the people they're supposed to be representing. Collectively, they pass no new legislation that is of benefit to the people. Other than President Trump's efforts, government is a massive, obvious failure of human capacity.

If ever there was a time for a global revolution (not a new concept), it would be now, though nobody has any contingency plans for how to deal with the dystopian aftermath that would surely follow.

Experience teaches us that disposing of scoundrels, deposing tyrants, or overthrowing governments only makes matters seem better for a short period of time. At least in the original American revolution, the patriots were separated from their tyrannical rulers by a vast ocean which technology hadn't quite conquered.

Today's intertwined system is different, close at hand, and the scoundrels much better disguised. There isn't going to be any overthrow of anything except morals and values, people's faith and judgment, which seem to be going in the direction of all flesh. Anger, the most palpable manifestation of displeasure, is boiling over in all facets of urban life. People are becoming more and more ill-mannered, short-tempered, self-absorbed, and intolerant toward the views and objectives of others. All of this adds up to uncivil activities, flouting of the law, violence and strife. Essentially, when ordinary people lose faith in a government that they had become accustomed to relying upon, all that's left is chaos, and that seems to be the direction in which we're inexorably, sadly, headed.

... and then came the Brexit vote in Britain's Parliament. Prime Minister Teresa May's government proposal was rounded defeated by a 432-202 vote in the House of Commons. On the news, the Dow tanked... briefly, the other indices slumped shortly, and then shot back to from whence they came.

It's all fake, people. There are no more free markets. Face it. All the geese been thoroughly cooked.

Dow Jones Industrial Average January Scorecard:

Date Close Gain/Loss Cum. G/L
1/2/19 23,346.24 +18.78 +18.78
1/3/19 22,686.22 -660.02 -641.24
1/4/19 23,433.16 +746.94 +105.70
1/7/19 23,531.35 +98.19 +203.89
1/8/19 23,787.45 +256.10 +459.99
1/9/19 23,879.12 +91.67 +551.66
1/10/19 24,001.92 +122.80 +674.46
1/11/19 23,995.95 -5.97 +669.49
1/14/19 23,909.84 -86.11 +583.38
1/15/19 24,065.59 +155.75 +739.13

At the Close, Tuesday, January 15, 2019:
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 24,065.59, +155.75 (+0.65%)
NASDAQ: 7,023.83, +117.92 (+1.71%)
S&P 500: 2,610.30, +27.69 (+1.07%)
NYSE Composite: 11,868.68, +69.57 (+0.59%)

Monday, January 14, 2019

Dull Monday

Stocks took a negative turn on Monday, with no rationale for the move other than general sentiment. Citigroup (C) missed on revenue when they announced fourth quarter earnings prior to the opening bell.

More bank stocks will be reporting as the week progresses, so this small downdraft may be just the start of something larger. The major indices seem to be nearly out of steam from the recent rally. Expectations for earnings season have been muted, and some earnings and revenue misses are to be expected, and, if that's the case, nothing kills rallies better than earnings misses.

Stay tuned.

Dow Jones Industrial Average January Scorecard:

Date Close Gain/Loss Cum. G/L
1/2/19 23,346.24 +18.78 +18.78
1/3/19 22,686.22 -660.02 -641.24
1/4/19 23,433.16 +746.94 +105.70
1/7/19 23,531.35 +98.19 +203.89
1/8/19 23,787.45 +256.10 +459.99
1/9/19 23,879.12 +91.67 +551.66
1/10/19 24,001.92 +122.80 +674.46
1/11/19 23,995.95 -5.97 +669.49
1/14/19 23,909.84 -86.11 +583.38

At the Close, Monday, January 14, 2019:
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 23,909.84, -86.11 (-0.36%)
NASDAQ: 6,905.92, -65.56 (-0.94%)
S&P 500: 2,582.61, -13.65 (-0.53%)
NYSE Composite: 11,799.11, -48.90 (-0.41%)

Sunday, January 13, 2019

Weekend Wrap: The Fed Never Had Control, And What They Now Have Is As Fake As Fake News

What a week it was for equity holders and speculators!

Friday's very minor declines snapped five-day winning streaks for the major indices, with the exception of the NYSE Composite, which continued gaining for a sixth straight session.

Solid for the past three weeks, the current rally has managed to relieve the stress from steep losses incurred in December though the majors still have plenty of distance to travel. For instance, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 4034.23 from December 4 through Christmas Eve (Dec. 24), and has since gained 2203.75, nearly half of that amount regained the day after Christmas (Dec. 26), setting a one-day record by picking up 1086.25 points.

The other indices have exhibited similar patterns, with sudden acceleration in the final trading days of December and continuing smaller, albeit significant, positive closes on nine of the twelve sessions from December 26 through January 11.

Catalysts for the post-holiday rally continue to be diverse, the most significant strong data point coming from the BLS, which showed the economy adding 312,000 jobs for December in the most recent non-farm payroll report, released last Friday. So far beyond expectations was that number that it appeared to have kept sentiment positive for a full week after its release.

The week's most important data release was Friday's CPI number, which - thanks largely to the price of gasoline - declined 0.1% in December, and slowed to 1.9% in year-over-year measure. Core was +0.2% (mom) and +2.2% (yoy).

Slowing inflation, or perhaps, outright deflation, is anathema to the Federal Reserve, despite their all-too-frequent suggestions that they exist to keep inflation under check. The entire monetary scheme of the Fed and the global economy would disintegrate without inflation, thus the Fed will be diligent in regards to interest rates going forward. After hiking the federal funds rate at a pace of 25 basis points per quarter for the past two years, the Fed has received warnings aplenty, first from the cascading declines in the stock market, and second, from a squashing of inflation.

That CPI data, for all intents and purposes, killed any idea of a March rate hike, just as the market drop caused Treasury Secretary Mnuchin to frantically call in the Plunge Protection Team just before Christmas. The results from that plea for help have been grossly evident the past three weeks.

While the Fed believes it can control the economy, the truth is that it absolutely cannot. Bond prices and yields point that out in spades. The benchmark 10-year note yield dropped as low as 2.54% (1/3) in the face of all the recent rate hikes. As of Friday, the 2s-10s spread fell to 16 basis points. Already inverted are the 1-year and 2-year notes as related to the 5s. The 1-year closed on Friday with a yield of 2.58%; the 2-year at 2.55%; the 5-year at 2.52%, the 7-year at 2.60, and the 10-year at 2.60%.

The 2s-10s spread is the most cited and closely watched, but the 1s-7s are just two basis points from inversion, the cause, undeniably, the Fed's incessant pimping of the overnight rate.

If bond traders are acting in such a manner that they prefer short-dated maturities over the longer run, the signal is danger just ahead. Talk of an impending recession has tapered off in recent days, but the bond market's insistent buying patterns suggest that the Fed did indeed go too far, too fast with the rate hikes, spurring disinvestment and eventually, a recession.

What the Fed cannot control are human decisions. Noting the sentiment in bonds, the latest stock market gains have been contrived from the start and are certain to reverse course. As has been stated here countless times, bull markets do not last forever and Dow Theory has already signaled primary trend change twice in 2018 (in March-April and October).

The major indices have not escaped correction territory and all are trading below both their 50-and-200-day moving averages. Further those averages are upside-down, with the 200-day below the 50-day. The death crosses having already occurred, stocks will resume their reversion to the mean in the very near future.

Dow Jones Industrial Average January Scorecard:

Date Close Gain/Loss Cum. G/L
1/2/19 23,346.24 +18.78 +18.78
1/3/19 22,686.22 -660.02 -641.24
1/4/19 23,433.16 +746.94 +105.70
1/7/19 23,531.35 +98.19 +203.89
1/8/19 23,787.45 +256.10 +459.99
1/9/19 23,879.12 +91.67 +551.66
1/10/19 24,001.92 +122.80 +674.46
1/11/19 23,995.95 -5.97 +669.49

At the Close, Friday, January 11, 2019:
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 23,995.95, -5.97 (-0.02%)
NASDAQ: 6,971.48, -14.59 (-0.21%)
S&P 500: 2,596.26, -0.38 (-0.01%)
NYSE Composite: 11,848.01, +8.70 (+0.07%)

For the Week:
Dow: +562.79 (+2.40%)
NASDAQ: +232.62 (+3.45%)
S&P 500: +64.32 (+2.54%)
NYSE Composite: +314.67 (+2.73%)

Thursday, January 10, 2019

Retail Woes Subdued By Dip Buyers; Stocks Continue New Year Rally

Stocks have been on quite a tear since Christmas, a move that is strangely similar to hmmmm... last January.

How did that turn out?

Since the big downdraft of December, which culminated in a major splashdown on Christmas Eve, the Dow, NASDAQ and S&P 500 have staged a rally that is remarkable if only for its vacuousness. The only reasonable rationale for the recovery rally is that stocks were down so much, they looked like bargains. Oddly enough, many of these same stocks - names like Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL) and Facebook (FB) - were being unloaded like cabbage off a produce truck just weeks ago.

These companies aren't doing any better than they were in November or December, nor is the economy. Even worse, the government shutdown, which began just before the markets bottomed, has continued, its effects so far minimized. The shutdown only affects about a quarter of "non-essential" federal operations, so it has not been a major headache for many. In a month or two, however, even if the shutdown ends soon, there will be some material and psychological damage to the economy, that's without a doubt. Plans were changed, the federal employees who were either furloughed or working without pay had problems making ends meet, and the general populace grimaced, frowned, and variously expressed disgust at the government's dysfunction.

So, the choice is whether to engage in the buying or await a better entry point, or, since stocks are up broadly in the nearly three weeks since Christmas, go short.

For now, the waiting game may be the most prudent, unless one has an economic itch that is in need of a scratch, especially since today's action saw a heavy downdraft at the open due to failures in the retail space, particularly Macy's (M) and Kohl's (KSS), both of which reported disappointing same store sales over the holidays.

Macy's was sacrificed to the tune of a 17% decline on the day, while Kohl's, down nearly 10% early, finished with a loss that was half that, thanks to the dip buyers de jour.

If this continues, all stocks will eventually be bought, at some price, regardless of fundamentals. Certainly, Macy's is now going to be seen as ripe for the plucking by somebody.

Dow Jones Industrial Average January Scorecard:

Date Close Gain/Loss Cum. G/L
1/2/19 23,346.24 +18.78 +18.78
1/3/19 22,686.22 -660.02 -641.24
1/4/19 23,433.16 +746.94 +105.70
1/7/19 23,531.35 +98.19 +203.89
1/8/19 23,787.45 +256.10 +459.99
1/9/19 23,879.12 +91.67 +551.66
1/10/19 24,001.92 +122.80 +674.46

At the Close, Thursday, January 10, 2019:
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 24,001.92, +122.80 (+0.51%)
NASDAQ: 6,986.07, +28.99 (+0.42%)
S&P 500: 2,596.64, +11.68 (+0.45%)
NYSE Composite: 11,839.31, +60.89 (+0.52%)

Wednesday, January 9, 2019

Stocks Keep Rising, But Major Speed Bumps Are Dead Ahead

Bored yet?

Since bottoming out the day before Christmas (December 24), the major US indices have gained in eight of the last ten sessions, including today's smallish gains.

While going eight for ten to the upside certainly sounds impressive, there is a small problem. The NASDAQ. S&P 500, Dow Industrials, and NYSE Composite are all trading below their 50-and-200-day moving averages. What's more troubling is that those averages are inverted, with the 50 below the 200, as all of the charts show the so-called "death cross" occurring variously between late November and mid-December.

This is troubling to chartists because the rallies have produced some ill-placed optimism in the minds of some investors, mostly affecting those passive types with 401k, retirement, IRA and other "hands off" accounts.

So, while everybody is cheering the fantastic performance of stocks in the new year, there are major speed bumps dead ahead. Turning around inverted moving averages is the kind of heavy lifting for which the PPT was created and how the Fed came up with various forms of money creation, such as QE, QE2, Operation Twist, and other variants of magical fiat money.

Earnings season is about to kick into high gear next week, and expectations are not all that rosy, though, if one tracks home builders, like Lennar (LEN), which missed expectations but still managed a gain today of nearly eight percent. Of course, the stock is just off its 52-week low, so there's an outside chance that everybody, all at once decided it was too cheap to pass up.

So, the question is whether the PPT or the Fed or the Bank of Japan or the ECB, or all of them are of like mind and will buy with open arms every stock that looks like a sure loser over the next four to five weeks.

There's an old adage in the investing world, that posits, "don't fight the Fed." This time it appears to be for real and the Fed, from the speeches and off-the-cuff quotes by some of the regional presidents, is in a fighting mood.

Dow Jones Industrial Average January Scorecard:

Date Close Gain/Loss Cum. G/L
1/2/19 23,346.24 +18.78 +18.78
1/3/19 22,686.22 -660.02 -641.24
1/4/19 23,433.16 +746.94 +105.70
1/7/19 23,531.35 +98.19 +203.89
1/8/19 23,787.45 +256.10 +459.99
1/9/19 23,879.12 +91.67 +551.66

At the Close, Wednesday, January 9, 2018:
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 23,879.12, +91.67 (+0.39%)
NASDAQ: 6,957.08, +60.08 (+0.87%)
S&P 500: 2,584.96, +10.55 (+0.41%)
NYSE Composite: 11,778.42, +62.19 (+0.53%)